


Home for the Holidays

by FruityShirts



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 20:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13084617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FruityShirts/pseuds/FruityShirts
Summary: Eames is magnanimous.  Arthur is suspicious.





	Home for the Holidays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pinkys_creature_feature](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkys_creature_feature/gifts).



> With many thanks to @ehonauta for beta reading!

Arthur unholstered his Glock as he approached the front door of the safe house he had been hunkered down in for the past month.  The weeks had been teeth-grindingly monotonous, but he really didn’t need the kind of excitement that would require him to bury a body or three if it turned out that the mark’s goons had found him.   


 

On the other hand why would they knock first?  Maybe his paranoia was getting the best of him.  Still, he held his gun ready as he peered through the peep-hole.   


 

He snapped his head back in surprise.

 

He unlatched the door and opened it with a frown, training his gun on the interloper.

 

“What the hell are you doing here, Eames?” he asked in a voice flat as the landscape around them.

 

Arthur watched a little wrinkle appear in Eames’s brow, which he could barely see over the armful of paper bags Eames was carrying. “Jesus, Arthur!  I’d put my hands up but it’d be a shame to let this feast go to waste. Maybe a “thank you” or a “Happy Christmas? Is in order?” 

 

Arthur continued to stare him down.  He’d been bored the tears the past few weeks in this remote little hideout.  He barely had functional internet.  Company wasn’t unwelcome, but he hadn’t seen or heard from Eames in months.  He had told himself he wasn’t hurt about that, but it was harder to ignore with Eames now standing in front of him as if it was totally normal for him to be there.  It didn’t help that Arthur’s paranoia was making him wonder where Eames had been and who he might be working for at the moment. 

 

“Are you going to let me in?” Eames prompted.

 

“Christmas isn’t for another week yet” Arthur replied with a sigh, but he dropped the gun and stood aside to let Eames in.  “How the hell did you know know where I was?” Arthur asked, replacing the gun in the holster at the small of his back. 

 

“You think you’re the only one who keeps tabs on people?” Eames winked as he passed inside, which just irked Arthur more.

 

“If it’s this easy to find me, maybe I need to find a better place” Arthur grumbled, partly to himself, as he followed Eames toward the kitchen.  He pulled himself onto one of the island stools as Eames began to unpack a veritable feast of...frozen and canned food.

 

“Really?” said Arthur as he plucked a box of pizza rolls from the pile.  “You came all this way to bring me a bunch of junk food?”

 

“And good booze!” Eames said in hurt tones as he pulled a bottle of scotch from the bottom of the last bag.

“Ah!  Well that’s ok then” Arthur replied sarcastically, making a swipe for the bottle as Eames pulled it away with a scowl.

 

“Really, Arthur, for a Christmas in the middle of the desert, this might be the coldest reception I have ever received.”

 

Arthur eyed him skeptically.  “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the...food.  But you never answered my question Eames.  Why the hell are you here?” 

 

Eames sulked. “I thought you could use some Christmas cheer, alright?  If I thought I was going to be such an imposition on your precious _alone_ _time_ , I’d have just sent a card.” He turned his back and went about looking busy shoving boxes in the freezer.

 

Arthur scrubbed his hand over his face.  “Look Eames, I’m sorry.  This last job...well, I barely made it out.  It’s been a rough couple of months, and if it’s this easy for you to find me, all I can think is that I need to move on to another place asap.”

 

What he didn’t say was: “And I haven’t heard from you in months...what the hell?”  The thing between them had only ever been casual, but Arthur was suddenly surprised at how stung he felt by the prolonged radio silence. 

 

“Why do you think I’ve been staying away, love.” Eames said, as if he had heard the accusation hanging in the air, turning back to Arthur with a couple of glasses and breaking into the scotch.  “When I found out you were working for Warner, I kept my distance from you and anyone associated with you.”

 

“Gee, thanks” Arthur said into the glass of scotch Eames handed him.  The pet names really needled a little more than usual right now.

 

“You git.” Eames said, squaring both hands on the counter and leaning across it in frustration.  “I worked with Warner a long time ago and I know how crazy that asshole is.  I knew you might need backup or an extraction, and I didn’t want him to think that we had any ties.  Since you didn’t tell me your plans, the best I could do was make sure they wouldn't be keeping an eye on me when things inevitably went south and you had to get out.”

 

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

 

“And it was about that time I started tracking your safe houses as well.”  Eames sipped his scotch.

 

“This is a new safe house” Arthur pointed out.

 

“Yes, but the things you look for in a safe house are always the same.  You can be a bit predictable sometimes.  But really Arthur, New Mexico?  There’s literally nothing in the whole damn state.”

 

“That’s kind of the point.” Arthur replied hotly.  “Also don’t knock Albuquerque, it’s actually pretty great.”

 

“A most important point at this moment, certainly,” Eame sniped back.

 

Arthur finally relented.  “Thanks for coming to find me I guess” he said, staring down at the whiskey swirling in his glass.

 

Eames shook his head and smiled.  “Your magnanimity is overwhelming as ever, darling.  Cheers.” Eames clinked his tumblr against Arthur’s.  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have something for you in the car.”

 

Eames let himself out and returned with a large-ish package wrapped in obnoxious Santa-print wrapping paper with a huge gold bow stuck on one side.  He set it on the coffee table in the living room as Arthur joined him on the sofa.

 

“I didn’t get you anything” Arthur said, bemused and slightly suspicious.

 

“Your glowing company has been gift enough.” Eames’ voice was saccharine sweet, and Arthur barely suppressed an eye roll as he took another drink.  “Go ahead, open it!”

 

Arthur tore the paper away to reveal a familiar silver case.  He eyed Eames suspiciously.  He hadn’t mentioned that he’d lost his PASIV while trying to get clear of this most recent disaster of a job.  “Where the fuck did you get this Eames?  Did Warner send you with this and a shitty story to hook me back into his shitshow?”

 

“Jesus Christ, Arthur, you really don’t trust me do you?” Eames leaned back into the couch with a thump, angling himself away from Arthur. “It’s not the same device, open it up and see for yourself.”

 

“How did you know I needed one?” Arthur asked sharply.

 

“I told you I was worried about you and keeping tabs.  Warner’s team can’t keep their mouths shut.  Bragging on about having acquired their very own PASIV recently.  I figured you must have needed to get out of there in a hurry to leave it behind.”

 

Arthur nodded slowly.  It had been a crazy scramble once he realized he’d been set up.  He usually didn’t let the device out of his sight, but someone must have adjusted his dosage or injected him so he stayed asleep while the rest of the team packed up and got out.  He had come to with the mark’s security storming the building and had to get out as quickly as possible.  

 

Arthur’s eyes widened as he opened the case to reveal a shining, brand new PASIV device.  While suspicion still nagged at the back of his brain, curiosity began to overcome his other emotions.  “I didn’t think anyone was making them anymore...where did you get this, Eames?”

 

“Some gentlemen I know have been working on reverse-engineering the design from the PASIVs we do have in circulation.  They’ve added some of their own tweaks and improvements:  more accurate calibration on the pumps, more control of the dosage and timing, and this can be wired more easily in series with other devices to connect even more people with less hiccups.  A new top-of-the-line model.” 

 

Eames smiled, wide and genuine, watching Arthur’s fingers trace the lines of the new device. “The top-of-the-line point man deserves no less.”

 

Arthur finally smiled back, dimples pulling at the corners of his mouth.  “Would those gentlemen happen to work for  a certain Japanese businessman of our acquaintance?” Arthur asked.

 

“I have no idea what you’re on about, darling” Eames replied with a chuckle.  “But I did happen to bring some chemistry for us, if you’d like to test it out.  I...might have built a bit of something for you...in the dream.”  Eames dropped his eyes to his shoes, the closest thing Arthur had seen to vulnerability from him thus far.

 

“How could I say no to that” Arthur conceded, taking a last swallow of scotch as he pulled out the cannulas and began to set up the PASIV.  

 

\---

 

They came to in a cozy, firelit, third floor apartment.  Books lined the walls, and the brick walls of the living room flowed to a bay window that looked out toward the distant and familiar skyline of Chicago.  Arthur could hear the blue line train pulling away from the station a mile or so away.  It even  _ smelled _ like home.  He had no idea how Eames managed that, but he’d take it.  Snow fell quietly outside the window and there were mugs of what appeared to be hot chocolate steaming on the table in front of them.  

 

“I thought you might like to be home for the holidays” Eames said quietly next to him.

 

Arthur inched closer to him on the couch.  “What made you think that?” he asked, genuinely curious.  

 

“You haven’t been home in over a year,” Eames ticked a finger “you hate hot weather if it’s not a tropical beach,” Eames ticked another finger “and you’ve been moping around here for a month, dreaming of a white Christmas.”

 

Arthur laughed.  “Well, I guess two out of three isn’t bad.”  He found Eames’s hand and gave it a squeeze before getting up and going to open a small box by the window.  From the box, he produced a simple silver menorah and set about lighting the candles.  

 

After setting it in the window, he turned back with a smile to find a slightly mortified-looking Eames standing behind him.  

 

Arthur laughed.  “I can’t believe you tracked down my newly acquired safehouse, but you haven’t noticed that I don’t celebrate Christmas.”

 

“I’m so sorry darling...I got it all wrong didn’t I?” Eames said sheepishly.

 

Arthur took pity and went to him, wrapping his arms around Eames’ waist.  “Hey, you came and found me when I was going out of my mind with boredom, you brought me a shiny new PASIV, and then you brought me home for Hanukkah.  That’s like...three gifts in one.”  Eames smiled.  Arthur rocked them back and forth a bit as he nuzzled into the second-day stubble of Eames’ neck. “Now let me give you something in return…”

 

The fire crackled as he brought their lips together and snow fell softly outside as they made their way to the bedroom, the candles in the window shining out into the long night. 

  
  



End file.
